Many fishing vessels, such as shrimp boats, use nets lowered and raised from the water. The nets are extended for insertion in the water and retrieval from the water using a combination of chains, cables, trawl doors, outriggers, etc, where the cables are wound on a winch drum. Although single cables can be used from the winch to the trawl doors, generally a main cable (typically about ¾ inch in diameter) is used as the core cable and to an end of this cable, 2 or more smaller cables (e.g., three ⅝ inch diameter cables) are typically spliced. These smaller cables are attached to the trawl door, which is used as a spreader for the nets that are lowered into the water and dragged behind the boat.
One of the problems in raising the nets is ensuring that the cables are wound evenly, that is, evenly distributed, across the drum. The single larger cable is wound on the drum and the multiple cable end is then wound. If the cables are not evenly wound, then the trawl doors will not be raised simultaneously. For example, one trawl door may be lifted and the other may still be in the water.
Prior art apparatus requires that the cables be manipulated manually through guides extending from the ceiling bulkhead structure or extending from the deck area. The guides are pivotally mounted. In the situation where the guides are located so as to extend from the deck, the operator has to lean above the cables being wound on the drum. In the situation where the guides are attached to the ceiling bulkhead structure, the operator finds himself below the cables being wound on the drum. In either case, the operator is exposed to dangerous life threatening conditions.
If cable guides are located so as to extend from the deck area in front of the drum, the guide has to be manipulated by hand such that the operator has to use a lot of physical force to push the guide away from him, thereby leaning over the cables being wound or unwound. The guide then has to be pulled back toward himself to continue winding the cable in the other direction. This cycle is repeated. Meanwhile, the operator in essentially standing in the area in front of the drum in harms way of the cable lines. If cable guides are located so as to extend from the ceiling bulkhead area, the guide has to be similarly manipulated, except now the operator finds himself essentially below the cables being wound or unwound and still in front of the drum.
There is also a significant amount of tension in the cables. The trawl doors alone can weigh 2000 to 3000 pounds, and the drag force of the nets filled with shrimp also add a significant tension force to the cables being wound.
It is not uncommon for the cables to be entwined in buoys and crab lines. When these lines get near the drum, the flapping of the lines or lines that break and snap can backlash against the operator severely injuring or killing the operator. Another common problem is the unsteady seas. The winch operator is trying to maintain his balance while using force to manipulate the guides as the cable is being wound and unwound. This unsteady balance can cause the winch operator to fall into the drum or cable lines. A shrimp boat winch operator recently was killed in the Gulf of Mexico when his arm got entangled in the cables being wound. Because he was in front of the drum near the cables being wound, he could not reach the drum drive clutch to disengage the rotating drum, and was pulled into the drum reel. One can imagine after that what happened to him after being pulled into a drum reel adjacent another drum reel winding cables on the other side of the boat. According to newspaper reports, it took nearly four hours for the Coast Guard to remove the body from the wound drum.
What is needed is a system where the cables can be guided and evenly distributed on the drum while ensuring the safety of the winch operator. It is also understood that the present invention described below can apply to any winch system that has to wind a single cable, or a combination of a cable connected in line to other spliced cables, to a chain, rope, or similar lanyards and rigging lines, where the operator is at significant risk of injury or death.